Hyundai Motor Company celebrated a significant milestone yesterday as it rolled out the 1-millionth vehicle for export to the African market. The one-millionth model was a white Hyundai Elantra sedan headed for a customer in Egypt. The Elantra compact sedan is Hyundai's most popular model in Africa with 129,995 units having been exported last year. Hyundai first began exporting vehicles to Africa 33 years ago with the Pony, and shipped 207 vehicles in that year. The Korean brand has since fluorished and shipped a staggering 160,603 units to the African market last year. Today, Hyundai has a commanding presence in the African car market with a total share only second to Toyota. It holds the largest market share in Egypt with 26.4 percent, and sold 53,153 vehicles in the country last year.
With growing demand for Korean cars in Africa, Hyundai has been strengthening its marketing efforts there. The company’s plan is to solidify its “top brand image” worldwide by “aggressively meeting increasing demand in Africa as well as in India and China,” a Hyundai official said.
[Source: JoongAng Daily]
